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2000 Prerunner Brown Transmission Fluid

My 2000 Toyota Tacoma Prerunner 4 Cylinder has 54K. I've noticed no performance or transmission problems. When I checked the transmission fluid it was brown with no burned smell. Without doing the pan, I drained it and refilled. I drove it 20 minutes and rechecked it. It was still somewhat brown, so I drained and refilled again. It looks a little better but its still not right. The last time that I checked it, it was OK. I did pull a quarter-ton trailer with some firewood 120 miles in October; I use the trailer less than 5 times a year...usually lightly loaded. I read the posts on the subject and learned that when you change the fluid, you are only changing about a third of the fluid in the transmission; I should have dropped and cleaned the pan; I also should have checked and changed the fluid earlier. Today, I plan to change the filter if appropriate, clean the pan, and do the third fluid drain and refill. My question: If the pan and filter look OK, am I done, or should I have it flushed?

Tommy

Reply to
Tommy Taylor
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You should probably either drain and refill the transmission maybe five times total or get a complete flush. It would be good to drain and refill the pan regularly, maybe every second or third oil change. There is no filter, just a fine mesh screen. No need to look at it.

Ken

Reply to
Ken Shelton

Even if you were to drop the pan, and then drain your tranny fluid, you would only get 30% of the fluid out. The best way to change your fluid is to have the tranny flushed out. You could either do it at a garage, or if you have the parts to make a few adapters, disconnect one of the tranny cooling line connections at the radiator. Hook up some adapters, so that you have maybe six feet of flexible line coming from the radiator, and the same from the disconnected line. Determine which hose end is the pressure line, and which is the "suction" line. Get a 20 litre thing of tranny fluid, and put the suction line into the 20l of clean tranny fluid, and put the pressure line in the EMPTY 20l container. Now, run the engine until the clean fluid is empty, or the pressure line starts to run clean. Reconnect the line back to the tranny, and do your normal tranny fluid check.

This method will ensure you get all the old fluid out of the torque converter, where most of it is hiding. The only ways to get the fluid out of the torque converter, is by flushing the tranny fluid, or by removing the tranny to get at the torque converter, so you can remove it too and drain and refill it.

Reply to
guess

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